^'A<>'6\3-/50    _  ^  ^^^-^ 


IBHAJRY.  QOF' 2. 


THE 


GoMGcticit  Apiciltiral  Exprineiit  Statioi. 

NEW    HAVEN,     CONN. 


IBTJLLEJTinV     TVo.     ISO 

APRIL,    1895 


Analyses  of  Fertilizers.    Trade  Tallies  of 

Fertilizer  Ingredients  for  1895. 

Poultry  Foods. 


CONTENTS. 

Notice  as  to  Bulletins  and  Reports,  ----..  2 

Notice  regarding  the  Fertilizer  Law,             -            .            ...  2 

Trade  Values  for  Valuation  of  Mixed  Fertilizers,     -            -            -            -  3 

Nitrate  of  Soda,         ........  4. 

Dry  Fish,       .........  4 

Dried  Blood,              ........  5 

Cotton  Seed  Meal,     -.-.....5 

Dissolved  Rock  Phosphate,               ......  g 

Odorless  Mineral  Guano,       --.....  9 

Muriate  of  Potash,                .......  9 

Canada  "Wood  Ashes,            -            -            .            .            -            .            -  10 

Cotton  Hull  Ashes,                -            -            -            -            -            -            -  11 

Poultry  Foods,           ........  14 


H-3 

ho,  1^0 


2  CONNECnCUT   AGRICULTURAL   STATION,    BULL.    120. 


Notice  as  to  Bulletins. 

The  Bulletins  of  this  Station  are  mailed  free  to  citizens  of 
Connecticut  who  apply  for  them,  and  to  others,  as  far  as  the 
limited  editions  permit. 

Applications  should  be  renewed  annually  before  January  1st. 

The  matter  of  all  the  Bulletins  of  this  Station,  in  so  far  as  it 
is  new  and  of  permanent  value,  will  be  made  j^art  of  the  Annual 
Report. 

B^^AU  Bulletins  earlier  than  No.  71  and  alsoNos.  83,  93,  100, 
101, 102, 106,  111  and  118,  are  exhausted  and  cannot  be  supplied. 


Notice  as  to  Supplt  of  Station  Reports. 

The  Annual  Report  of  this  Station,  printed  at  State  expense,  is 
by  law  limited  to  an  edition  of  12,000  copies,  of  which  5,000 
copies  are  bound  with  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Connecticut 
State  Board  of  Agriculture,  and  distributed  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Board,  T.  S.  Gold,  West  Cornwall,  Conn. 

After  exchanging  with  other  Experiment  Stations  and  Agricul- 
tural Journals,  the  RejDorts  remaining  at  the  disposal  of  the  Sta- 
tion will  be  sent  to  citizens  of  Connecticut  who  shall  seasonably 
apply  for  them,  and  to  others  as  long  as  the  supply  lasts. 

I^^The  Station  has  no  supply  of  its  Annual  Rejaorts  for  the  years 
1877,  1878,  1879,  1880,  1881,  1883,  1887,  1891,  and  1893,  but 
some  of  them  may  be  obtained  from  Secretary  T.  S.  Gold. 


Notice  Regarding  the   Fertilizer  Law. 

Persons  who  mix  fertilizers,  whether  on  a  farm  or  in  a  factory, 
and  sell  these  mixtures  within  the  State  of  Connecticut,  must, 
under  the  terms  of  the  Fertilizer  Law,  pay  analysis  fees  on  such 
mixtures  and  meet  the  other  legal  requirements. 

Purchasers  may  club  together  to  buy  fertilizers,  making  one  per- 
son their  agent  for  the  purpose,  or  may  pay  one  person  for  mixing 
and  bagging  goods  which  they  severally  own,  without  limitation 
by  the  law,  but  the  sale  of  either  fertilizer-chemicals,  factory- 
mixed  or  home-mixed  fertilizers  within  this  State,  subjects  the  sel- 
ler to  the  requirements  and  penalties  of  the  law. 


FERTILIZEES. 


TRADE-VALUES   OF    FERTILIZER    INGREDIENTS    IN 
RAW  MATERIALS  AND  CHEMICALS,  FOR  1895. 

The  following  schedule  for  the  valuation  of  fertilizers  in  1895 
has  been  adopted  by  the  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  New  Jer- 
sey and  Connecticut  Stations. 

CIS. 
per  lb. 

Nitrogen  in  ammonia  salts  (ammonic  nitr.ogen) 18-^ 

nitrates  ( nitric  nitrogen) 15 

Organic  nitrogen  of  dry  and  fine  ground  fisl],  meat  and  blood IQi 

of  cotton  seed  meal 12 

of  fine  bone  and  tankage 16 

of  fine-medium  bone  and  tankage 14 

of  medium  bone  and  tankage II 

of  coarse  bone  and  tankage 5 

of  hair,  horn  shavings  and  coarse  fish  scrap 5 

Phosphoric  acid,  water-soluble Gi 

citrate-soluble*- - 6 

of  dry  fine  ground  fish,  bone  and  tankage 5^ 

of  fine-medium  bone  aud  tankage 4-i- 

of  medium  bone  and  tankage 3 

of  coarse  bone  and  tankage 2 

of  cotton  seed  meal,  and  wood' ashes 5 

of  mixed  fertilizers,  insoluble  in  both  water  and 
ammonium  citrate.. 2 

Potash  as  high-grade  sulphate  and  in  forms  free  from  muriate 

(or  chlorides) 5J 

as  muriate _     4^ 

In  Mixed  Fertilizers,  organic  nitrogen  is  reckoned  at  16^  cents 
per  pound,  the  price  of  nitrogen  in  raw  materials  of  the  best 
quality;  insoluble  phosphoric  aeidis  reckoned  at  2  cents:  2^otash  is, 
rated  at  4^  cents,  if  sufficient  chlorine  be  present  in  the  fertilizer 
to  combine  with  it  to  make  muriate;  if  there  is  more  potash 
present  than  will  combine  with  the  chlorine,  then  this  excess  of 
potash  is  reckoned  at  5^  cents  per  pound, 

*  Dissolved  from  2  grams  of  the  unground  phosphate  previously  extracted  with 
pure  water,  by  100  c.  c.  neutral  solution  of  ammonium  citrate,  sp.  gr.  1.09,  in  30 
minutes,  at  65°  C,  with  agitation  once  in  five  minutes.  Commonly  called  "  re- 
verted" or  "backgone"  Phosphoric  Acid. 


CONNECTICUT   AGRICULTURAL   STATION,   BULL.   120. 


ANALYSES    OF    FERTILIZERS. 
Reported  by  E,  H.  Jenkins. 

On  the  following  pages  will  be  found  analyses  of  most  of  the 
fertilizers  which  have  been  examined  at  this  station  since  making 
up  the  Annual  Report  for  1894. 

These  fertilizers  are  raw  materials,  such  as  are  used  by  manu- 
facturers or  for  home-mixing,  or  are  applied  to  land  unmixed. 
All  the  analyses  here  given  were  made  by  Messrs.  Winton  and 
Ogden,  chemists  of  the  Station. 

Nitrate    of    Soda. 

4:489.  Sold  by  National  Fertilizer  Co.  Bridgeport.  Sent  by 
T,  J.  Stroud,  Shaker  Station. 

4:511.  Sold  by  National  Fertilizer  Co.  Bridgeport.  Sent  by 
S.  E.  Curtiss,  Stratford. 

These  samples  contain  16.24  and  10.37  per  cent,  of  nitrogen 
respectively.  The  regular  retail  price  was  $50.00  per  ton.  At 
this  price  the  nitrogen  cost  15.4  and  15.2  cents  per  pound 
respectively,  which  is  a  little  less  than  the  average  cost  in  this 
State,  because  the  two  samples  contained  more  nitrogen  than  is 
usually  found  in  this  article. 

Dry  Fish. 

4548.  Sold  by  L.  Sanderson,  New  Haven.  From  a  lot  bought 
by  the  Station  for  experiment. 

4514.  Sold  by  G.  W.  Miles,  Milford.  Sent  by  W.  L.  and 
S.  T.  Merwin,  Milford. 

Analysis. 

4548  4514 

Nitrogen  as  ammonia .16  .80 

organic. 9.35  6.83 

Soluble  phosphoric  acid .51  .88 

Reverted        "          "     5.70  8.35 

Insoluble         "          "     1.08  1.82 

Costper  ton...    $33.00  30.00 

Valuation  per  ton $38.75  33.1T 

Nitrogen  costs  cents  per  pound 13.5  14.6 


FERTILIZERS.  5 

The  per  cent,  of  nitrogen  in  the  sample  of  fish  from  L,  Sander- 
son, 4548^  is  exceptionally  high.  Eight  per  cent,  is  the  average 
amount.  With  8  per  cent,  of  nitrogen  the  cost  per  pound  of 
nitrogen  would  have  been  about  16  cents. 

Dried  Blood. 

454-4.  Sold  by  L.  Sanderson.  Sample  from  lot  sold  to  this 
Station  for  experiment. 

It  contained  13.40  per  cent,  of  nitrogen  and  1.54  of  phosphoric 
acid.  Allowing  5  cents  per  pound  for  phosphoric  acid  the  nitro- 
gen costs  14.4  cents  per  pound. 

CoTTOK  Seed  Meal. 

On  the  next  page  are  given  the  analyses  of  Cotton  Seed  Meal 
recently  made  at  this  Station. 

For  "valuation"  of  cotton  seed  meal  the  pound  of  nitrogen  is 
reckoned  at  12  cents,  of  phosphoric  acid  at  5  cents  and  of  potash 
at  5^  cents.  Since  phosphoric  acid  and  potash  are  present  in 
small  proportion  it  is  not  needful  to  determine  their  exact  amount 
in  every  sample,  but  the  valuation  is  made  sufficiently  exact  by 
using  the  average  quantities  in  which  they  occur. 

The  retail  cost  of  organic  nitrogen  in  12  lots  of  meal  has  ranged 
from  9.9  cents  to  13.4  cents  per  pound  or  on  the  average  11.9 
cents. 

The  price  of  cotton  seed  meal  is  this  year  lower  than  ever,  and 
there  is  nothing  which  supplies  available  organic  nitrogen  for  fer- 
tilizers so  cheaply.  This  material  has  long  been  used  on  tobacco 
with  success  and  is  now  employed  extensively  as  a  fertilizer  for 
other  crops. 

There  is  in  some  quarters  a  belief  that  the  nitrogen  of  cotton 
seed  meal  is  not  as  readily  available  as  that  from  animal  matter, 
fish,  tankage,  bone,  etc. 

Our  knowledge  regarding  the  relative  availability  of  the  various 
forms  of  organic  nitrogen  is  scanty,  but  there  are  facts  which 
indicate  that  cotton  seed  meal,  castor  pomace,  linseed  meal  and 
the  like,  are  equal  if  not  superior  to  many  forms  of  animal  matter 
as  sources  of  nitrogen  for  crops. 

Thus  cotton  seed  meal  or  castor  pomace  is  used  exclusively  by 
many  of  the  most  successful  tobacco  growers  as  a  nitrogen  supply 
for  tobacco,  a  crop  which  makes  large  demands  on  the  soil-nitro- 
gen and,  occupying  the  land  less  than  three  months,  requires  plant 


CONNECTICUT   AGRICULTURAL   STATION,    BULL.    V2(). 


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FERTILIZEES.  7 

food  ill  quickly  available  forms.  Were  the  nitrogen  of  cotton 
seed  meal  not  quickly  available  it  could  hardly  meet  the  needs  of 
this  crop.  The  fact,  however,  that  tobacco  growers  use  quanti- 
ties of  meal  presumably  much  in  excess  of  the  crop  requirements, 
somewhat  weakens  the  argument. 

In  the  Eighteenth  Report  of  this  Station,  pp.  99,  100,  are  given 
the  results  of  three  years'  exact  experiments  made  by  Wagner 
on  small  plots  of  soil,  in  which  he  tested  the  relative  value  of 
various  forms  of  organic  nitrogen  on  a  rotation  consisting  of  sum- 
mer rye,  flax,  summer  Avheat  and  carrots.  Castor  pomace  was 
thus  compared  with  nitrate  of  soda,  dried  blood,  fish,  steamed 
bone  and  other  materials. 

If  the  availability  of  the  nitrogen  of  nitrate  of  soda  is  called 
100  then  in  the  first  year  the  relative  availability  of  the  nitrogen 
of   blood  was   67,  of  castor   pomace  62,  while  that  of  fish  and    ' 
bone  meal  was  51  and  42  respectively. 

The  average  of  two  years  tests  on  the  same  soil  was  67  and  65 
for  blood  and  castor  pomace,  59  and  53  for  fish  and  bone  meal. 

The  average  of  three  years  tests  on  the  same  soil  was  69  and 
67  for  blood  aud  castor  pomace,  64  and  61  for  fish  and  bone. 
Experiments  in  pots  gave  results  not  essentially  difl^erent  from 
these. 

Experiments  of  the  same  kind  made  at  this  Station  in  1894, 
18th  Report,  p.  96,  in  which  corn  was  grown  in  pots  with  the  dif- 
ferent fertilizers  showed  "  that  under  the  conditions  of  this  experi- 
ment, of  the  organic  forms  of  nitrogen,  castor  pomace  B  was  the 
most  available,  85  per  cent.,  wben  nitrate  of  soda  equals  100  per 
cent.  Somewhat  less  available  was  the  nitrogen  of  linseed  meal, 
80,  and  of  blood,  77  per  cent.  Next  came  cotton  seed  meal,  76, 
castor  pomace  A,  74,  and  horn  and  hoof  72  per  cent.  Last  came 
dry  fish,  70,  and  tankage  68  per  cent." 

These  exact  experiments  indicate  that  the  nitrogen  of  vegeta- 
ble matters  like  those  named,  is  as  readily  available  to  crops  as 
that  of  most  forms  of  animal  matter.  Even  if  the  vegetable  nitro- 
gen were  somewhat  inferior,  the  lower  price  might  still  make  it 
the  more  economical  to  use. 

Farmers  should  specify  in  ordering,  bright^  hulled  or  decorti- 
cated meal,  with  not  less  than  6.6  per  cent,  of  nitrogen.  The  low- 
priced,  dark,  unhulled  meal  which  contains  between  three  and 
four  per  cent,  of  nitrogen  is  uneconomical  to  use  at  current  mar- 
ket rates.  The  nitrogen  of  the  hulls  (cortex)  is  comparatively 
worthless. 


8  CONNECTICUT   AGRICULTURAL   STATION,   BULL.   120. 

Castor  pomace  should  be  mentioned  among  the  sources  of 
organic  nitrogen.  No  samples  have  yet  been  analyzed  during  the 
present  season.  It  is  bought  chiefly  in  the  tobacco  growing  dis- 
tricts and  its  use  will  probably  not  extend  to  other  sections  while 
the  prices  of  nitrogenous  matters  hold  as  they  are  now. 

Dissolved  Rock  Phosphate. 

4490.  Sold  by  National  Fertilizer  Co.,  Bridgeport.  Sent  by 
T.  J.  Stroud,  Shaker  Station. 

4493.  Sold  by  Liebig  Mfg.  Co.,  Cartaret,  N.  J.  Sent  by  J.  H. 
Webb,  Hamden. 

4507.  Sold  by  Liebig  Mfg.  Co.,  Carteret,  N.  J.  Sent  by  S. 
D.  Woodruff  &  Sons,  Orange. 

4613.  Sold  by  National  Fertilizer  Co.,  Bridgeport.  Sent  by 
S.  E.  Curtiss,  Stratford. 

Analyses. 

4490  4493  4507  4513 

Soluble  Phosphoric  Acid 12.83  13.00  8.58  8.35 

Reverted         "             " 2.93  2.92  6.34  6.85 

Insoluble        "             " 1.15  .15  1.47  2.01 

Cost  per  ton $18.00  18.00* 

Available  Phosphoric  Acid  costs 5.5  5.6 

The  sales  of  4493  and  4507  were  in  car  lots  for  spot  cash  and 
the  price  paid  made  the  cost  of  available  phosphoric  acid  less 
than  three  cents  per  pound. 

Available  phosphoric  acid  can  be  bought  in  dissolved  rock 
phosphate  very  considerably  cheaper  than  in  dissolved  bone  black, 
which  has  hitherto  been  almost  the  only  source  of  soluble  phos- 
phoric acid  for  those  who  mix  their  own  fertilizers. 

Dissolved  rock  phosphate  has  been  chiefly  U'sed  hitherto  by 
manufacturers  of  mixed  fertilizers,  and  two  objections  have  been 
urged  against  its  use  for  home-mixtures. 

It  has  been  claimed,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  phosphoric  acid 
of  dissolved  rock  is  not  as  available  to  crops  as  that  of  the  more 
expensive  dissolved  bone  black.  This  claim  is  absolutely  without 
foundation.  G-round  rock  phosphate  is  usually  extremely  slow  in 
its  action  on  crops.  The  same  is  true  of  waste  bone  black,  as  it 
is  of  bone  ash.     But  when  phosphoric  acid  has  been  brought  into 

*  Regular  retail  rate. 


FERTILIZEES.  9 

solution  in  water,  this  soluble  phosphoric  acid  is,  in  general,  of 
the  same  value  whatever  the  source  from  which  it  came. 

In  the  second  place,  dissolved  rock  phosphate  is  likely  to  cake 
or  set  when  stored  for  some  time  and  hence  to  require  screening 
or  milling  before  it  can  be  used.  If  it  is  mixed  with  a  large  pro- 
portion of  muriate  or  sulphate  of  potash  or  nitrate  of  soda,  it  will 
sometimes  cake  together  even  harder  than  when  unmixed. 

If,  however,  enough  animal  or  vegetable  matter  is  present  no 
such  inconvenience  need  be  feared. 

To  illustrate :  Mr.  J.  N.  Barnes,  of  Yalesville,  made  two  mix- 
tures in  the  spring  of  1894.  One  contained  1200  pounds  of  tank- 
age, 300  of  dissolved  rock  phosphate,  350  of  nitrate  of  soda,  and 
150  of  muriate  of  potash. 

The  other  consisted  of  100  pounds  of  fine  bone,  600  of  nitrate 
of  soda,  325  of  muriate  of  potash  and  975  of  dissolved  rock 
phosphate.  A  portion  of  each  lay  in  bags  in  the  barn  till  Octo- 
ber. At  that  time  the  mixtures  were  in  excellent  condition. 
There  were  no  lumps  which  did  not  fall  apart  on  emptying  the 
bags. 

Odorless  Mineral  Guano. 

This  material, — wholly  distinct  from  "  Odorless  Phosphate," 
which  is  a  basic  slag  pi-oduced  in  the  manufacture  of  steel — is 
ofiered  by  The  Forest  City  Wood  Ash  Co.,  of  Boston.  It  is  the 
soft  phosphate  of  Florida  and  claimed  to  be  the  "  best  fertilizer 
on  the  market." 

A  sample  4499  received  from  T.  J.  Stroud,  of  Shaker  Station, 
contained  20.52  per  cent,  of  phosphoric  acid,  of  which  1.'79  per 
cent,  was  soluble  in  ammonium  citrate  and  in  that  sense  "  avail- 
able." 

At  reasonable  prices  this  material  may  be  profitably  used  on 
soils  which  are  known  to  be  specially  deficient  in  available  phos- 
phates and  hence  likely  to  be  benefited  by  a  heavy  application 
of  some  phosphate  which  will  furnish  phosphoric  acid  to  the  crop 
year  after  year. 

Muriate  of  Potash. 

This  is  at  present  the  cheapest  source  of  available  potash  in  our 
market.  It  is  quite  constant  in  composition  and  is  sold  under 
guarantee  of  50  per  cent,  actual  potash,  though  some  lots  contain 
one  per  cent,  less  than  this. 


10         CONNECTICUT   AGRICULTURAL   STATION,    BULL.    120. 

The  retail  price  is  at  present  from  $42.50  to  $45.00  per  ton, 
making  the  cost  of  actual  potash  from  4.2  to  4.45  cents  per 
pound. 

4506.  Was  bought  in  N.  Y.  City  by  S.  D.  Woodrufi  &  Sons, 
of  Orange. 

4512.  Was  bought  by  S.  E.  Curtiss,  of  Stratford. 

The  samples  contained  respectively  49.77  and  50.73  percent,  of 
potash.  Both  parties  bought  for  cash^  for  -141.60  and  $41  per 
ton,  delivered  in  lots  of  several  tons,  but  less  than  car  lots,  at 
their  freight  station. 

The  cost  of  actual  potash  was  therefore  4.2  cents  and  4.0  cents 
per  pound  respectively. 

CajStada  Wood  Ashes. 

4465.  Bought  of  J.  F.  Ell  wood,  Greens  Farms,  by  D.  W. 
Clark,  Westville. 

4475.  Bought  of  Allison,  Stroup  &  Frost,  New  York  City,  by 
J.  E.  Larmer,  Norwalk. 

4485.  Bought  of  Monroe,  Lalor  &  Co.,  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  by 
J.  N.  Barnes,  Yalesville. 

4515.  Bought  of  Forest  City  Wood  Ash  Co.,  by  T.  J.  Stroud, 
Shaker  Station, 

4523.  Bought  of  A.  L.  Hartness,  Detroit,  Mich.,  by  A.  E. 
Plant  &  Co.,  Branford. 

4588.  Bought  of  Clinton  Phelps,  East  Granby,  by  Edward 
Austin,  Suffield. 

Analyses. 

4465       4475        4485       4515        4523       4538 

Phosphoric  Acid 1.78         1.80         1.43         1.68         2.28         1.84 

Potash  soluble  in  water 4.45         5.59         3.40         3.95         7.40         4.27 

Cost  per  ton... ..$11.50       10.50       11.50       10.50       10.00       11.00 

The  analyses  show  the  usual  variations.  4523  has  about  the 
composition  of  domestic  hard-wood  ashes.  4485  and  4515  are 
of  very  poor  quality. 

4515.  Was  bought  on  guarantee  of  five  per  cent,  of  potash 
soluble  in  water,  and  the  purchaser  secured  a  rebate  on  the 
amount  paid  for  them. 

The  potash  in  these  samples  of  wood  ashes  costs  from  5.2  to 
14.8  cents  per  pound,  and  on  the  average  9.8  cents,  if  we  assume 
that  their  value  consists  wholly  in  the  potash   and  phosphoric 


FEETILIZERS.  11 

acid  which  they    contain,  and   reckon  the  latter   at  5  cents  per 
pound. 

The  value  of  ashes,  however,  does  not  consist  wholly  in  these 
two  ingredients.  There  are  soils  on  \yhich  the  carbonate  of  lime 
of  which  the  ashes  should  contain  sixty  to  seventy  per  cent.,  is 
worth  more  than  the  potash  itself. 

Lime  is  not  abundant  in  most  of  our  Connecticut  soils,  and 
the  continued  use  of  saline  fertilizers,  like  potash  salts,  depletes 
the  soil  supply  of  it.  But  a  moderate  quantity  of  carbonate  of 
lime  in  the  soil  is  necessary  in  order  to  get  the  full  effect  of  nitro- 
genous fertilizers. 

Instead  of  using  "unleached"  hard-wood  ashes,  which  do  not 
contain  more  than  St]-  to  4  per  cent,  of  soluble  potash,  it  will  pay 
to  use  air-slacked  lime  with  muriate  of  potash  or  cotton  hull 
ashes. 


For  Instance  : 

Pliosphoric 
Potash.            Acid. 

Lime. 

One   ton   of  No.   4515,  Canada 

lbs.                 lbs. 

lbs. 

CostiDg-. 

ashes,  contains 

79                 34 

672 

$10.50-$I].5  0 

322  lbs  of   Cotton  hull   Ashes, 

4509,  and  950  lbs.  (23  bushels) 

of  oyster  shell  lime,  contain . . 

80                 38 

682 

$  9.26 

160  lbs.  muriate  of  Potash,  225 

lbs.  dissolved  bone  black  and 

950  lbs  oyster  shell  lime,  con- 

tain   - - 

80                 36 

670 

$  9.09 

Cotton  Hull  Ashes. 

In  the  table  on  page  12,  the  valuation  is  made  by  reckoning 
potash,  soluble,  reverted  and  insoluble  phosphoric  acid  at  5^, 
6,  5|-,  and  2  cents  per  pound  respectively.  The  cost  of  water- 
soluble  potash  is  calculated  by  subtracting  the  valuation  of  the 
phosphoric  acid  from  the  cost  price  and  dividing  the  remainder 
•by  the  number  of  pounds  of  potash  contained  in  a  ton. 

All  of  the  samples  thus  far  examined  this  year,  with  one  excep- 
tion, have  been  of  good  quality.  The  cost  per  pound  of  potash 
has  ranged  from  4.5  to  6.6  cents  j)er  pound,  and  has  averaged  5.4 
cents.  There  is  no  better  form  of  potash  known  for  the  tobacco 
crop.  It  is  the  general  opinion  of  the  best  growers  that  the  high 
grade  sulphate  of    potash  is   not  well  adapted  for  tobacco,  the 


12        CONNECTICUT  AGRICULTUflAL   STATION,   BULL.    120. 


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FERTILIZERS.  13- 

muriate  as  a  rule  cannot  be  used  on  smoking  tobacco  and 
the  choice  therefore  lies  between  the  double  sulphate  of  potash 
and  magnesia,  and  either  wood  ashes  or  cotton  hull  ashes.  The 
latter  kind  of  ashes  are  much  more  economical  when  from  100  ta 
150  or  even  200  pounds  of  actual  potash  per  acre  are  required 
annually. 

Cotton  hull  ashes,  at  present  prices,  are  worth  the  attention  of 
fruit  growers.  One  ton  of  cotton  hull  ashes  will  supply  as  much 
potash  as  five  tons  of  unleached  wood  ashes  of  average  quality 
and  costs  from  $10  to  $15  less.  The  quantity  of  lime  however 
would  be  very  much  less  in  the  cotton  hull  ashes  than  in  the 
wood  ashes. 

High  grade  sulphate  of  potash,  containing  from  48  to  51  per 
cent,  of  actual  potash  and  the  double  sulphate  of  potash  and  mag- 
nesia, often  called  "  low-grade  sulphate  of  potash,"  containing 
from  25  to  27  per  cent,  of  potash,  are  also  in  our  market  though 
no  samples  have  been  analyzed  during  the  present  season. 

The  cost  of  potash  per  pound  in  these  goods  ranges  from  5^  to 
6  cents  per  pound,  being  usually  a  trifle  higher  in  the  double  sul- 
phate than  in  the  high  grade  sulphate. 

Summary. 

1.  Nitrogen  is  bought  at  the  present  time  in  Connecticut  for 
about  the  following  prices  at  retail. 

In  nitrate  of  soda 15-i^  cents  per  pound. 

Indried  blood 14^  "       " 

In  dried  fish 13^-14^    "       " 

In  cotton  seed  meal. 9.9-13|     "       "         " 

The  nitrogen  of  cotton  seed  meal  is  as  readily  available  as 
that  of  most  animal  matter,  fish,  tankage,  bone  and  the  like. 

2.  So-called  "available  phosphoric  acid"  {i.  e.  soluble  and 
reverted  taken  together)  costs  at  present,  2-|-3  cents  less,  per 
pound,  in  "  dissolved  rock  phosphate  "  than  in  "  dissolved  bone 
black." 

Soluble,  (water-soluble)  phosphoric  acid  is  of  equal  value  to 
crops  whether  obtained  from  rock  or  bone.  Reverted  (citrate- 
soluble)  jDhosphoric  acid  probably  works  equally  well,  whatever 
its  source  may  be.  When  milled  with  nitrogenous  animal  or 
vegetable  matters  in  suitable  quantity,  dissolved  rock  phosphate 
does  not  cake  in  the  pile  or  in  bags. 


14        CONNECTICUT  AGETCULTURAL   STATION,   BULL.    120. 

3.  Muriate  of  potash  is  the  cheapest  source  of  potash  which,  in 
this  form,  costs  from  4|^  to  4^  cents  per  pound. 

4.  Canada  ashes  are  so  variable  and  commonly  so  poor  in  quality, 
that  they  cannot  serve  economically  as  a  source  of  potash.  Their 
fertilizing  value  however  does  not  consist  alone  in  the  potash  and 
phosphoric  acid  they  contain,  but  somewhat  depends  on  the  car- 
bonate of  lime  which  is  their  chief  ingredient. 

6,  Cotton  hull  ashes,  this  spring,  have  been  of  good  quality  and 
furnish  potash  for  5-|  cents  a  poxmd  on  the  average.  They  are 
well  worth  the  attention  of  orchardists  as  a  substitute  for  Canada 
ashes. 


POULTRY   FOODS.  15 


POULTRY  FOODS. 

The  following  brands  of  Poultry  Food  were  sent  to  this  Station 
for  examination  by  J.  S.  Adam,  of  Canaan  : 

4516.  Bradley's  Superior  Meat  Meal,  stated  to  be  made  of 
beef,  blood  and  bones.  Made  by  the  Bradley  Fertilizer  Co., 
Boston,  Mass. 

4517.  Bowker's  Animal  Meal,  stated  to  be  made  from  fresh 
beef  and  fresh  bones,  which  are  dried  and  cooked  by  steam  and 
then  ground.     Made  by  the  Bowker  Fertilizer  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 

4518.  Breck's  Poultry  and  Swine  Meal.  "  In  addition  to  the 
pure  meat  and  bone  we  have  combined  in  this  jirej^aration  some 
of  the  most  j^otent  agents  known  for  the  jDroduction  of  eggs,  not 
by  stimxilating  but  rather  by  preventing  disease  and  promoting 
general  good  health,"  etc.  Made  by  Joseph  Breck  &  Sons,  47 
N.  Market  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

4519.  C.  A.  Bartlett's  O.  K.  Feed.  Stated  to  be  made  of 
material  daily  collected  from  the  city  butcher  markets  and  cooked 
while  perfectly  fresh.  It  is  then  pressed,  dried  by  steam  heat 
and  ground  fine.     Made  by  C.  A.  Bartlett,  Worcester,  Mass. 

4520.  Smith  &  Roraaine's  Boiled  Beef  and  Bone.  Made  by 
Smith  &  Romaine,  109  Murray  St.,  N.  Y.  City. 

The  samples  were  purchased  from  the  manufacturer  with  the 
exception  of  4517,  which  was  bought  of  Ives  &  Peirce,  Canaan, 
Conn. 

Analyses. 

Smith  & 
Bradley's.      Bowker's.      Breck's.     Bartlett's.     Komaine's. 

4516  4517  4518  4519  4.520 

Moisture 5.03  4.81  12.86  4.69  5.13 

Fat 11.87  11.50  10.95  11.50  13.75 

Proteine* 36.62  41.75  29.81  40.68  38.00 

Other  Volatile  and  Organic 

Matters.. 3.72  4.49  4.90  5.49  5.15 

Phosphate  of  Limef 36.89  30.82  25.50  31.23  33.38 

Sand  and  Soil- 1.76  2.32  1.25  .57  1.03 

Other  Mineral  Matters 4.61  4.31  14.73  5.84  3.56 

100.00         100.00         100.00         100.00         100.00 

*Containing  Nitrogen 5.86  6.68  4.77  6.51  6.08 

f  Containing  phosphoric  acid     16.86  14.11  11.67  14.29  15.27 


16        CONNECTICUT  AGRICULTURAL  STATION,    BULL.    120. 

The  "proteine"  is  calculated  by  multiplying  the  i  nitrogen 
found  by  the  factor  6.25. 

All  the  preparations  appear  to  consist  chiefly  of  meat  and  bone 
having  about  the  composition  of  "  bone  tankage  "  which  is  used 
as  a  fertilizer. 

They  are  quite  alike  in  composition  excepting  that  Breck's 
Poultry  and  Swine  Meal  contains  less  proteine  and  phosphate  of 
lime  than  either  of  the  others  and  correspondingly  more  moisture 
and  mineral  matters  which  consist  in  part  of  carbonate  of  lime. 


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